Video: China’s humanoid robot wows with crazy Kung-fu moves, balanced backflips

Unitree Robotics released a new video showcasing its famous G1 humanoid performing various martial arts moves while maintaining balance and showing agility.

The 45-second video was released on October 13 on the company’s official YouTube channel and appeared on their official X handle.

The G1 humanoid performed all the complex actions at a commendable rapidity, with Unitree confirming no speed-ups were used in the video. The humanoid also used its hands to maintain balance for complex actions involving backflips and somersaults.

More on the video

The video named “KungFu Kid V6.0” shows G1 performing advanced KungFu moves in a dark, dimly lit room. It started with a high left-leg kick and extended its arms for balance.

The humanoid also nails a couple of spins and launches a few punches. It also executed one-legged balances, rapid kicks, and low sweeps.

Next, the humanoid robot switched to aerobatics, doing rapid succession somersaults, aerial twists, and backflips. It also landed smoothly on the ground after every move.

Are martial arts becoming repetitive with G1?

One look at the Unitree Robotics YouTube channel tells you how the company is focused on training the G1 humanoid to perform actions and imitate humans.

Unitree released a similar video of the G1 humanoid earlier in February this year, in which it performed martial arts moves. A month later, in March, it also performed human-like side flips, wowing the viewers, keeping tabs on its developments.

While the robot has improved significantly in agility, speed, and balance, watching the G1 humanoid perform the same moves hasn’t gone down well with some viewers. Not so surprisingly, many of them are now asking about its utilitarian abilities.

Most commenters asked how the humanoid could help humans in daily life. One user also queried if it could get him a beer out of a fridge.

A third one asked if it could do laundry – an ability that the Figure 02 humanoid already happens to possess.

Correcting expectations

The Unitree G1 is more than a general-purpose humanoid. The company positions it as a platform mainly for researchers, educational institutes, universities, and robotics enthusiasts interested in AI development and automation. It’s primarily designed for research purposes.

Unitree also envisions the G1 humanoid functioning in factories and warehouses, carrying out tasks. However, that is a secondary goal, given the visuals and the experiments they are currently doing with the robot.

G1’s $21,500 pricing on Walmart also resonates with its positioning as an industrial and research humanoid.

Only the future can tell if the Hangzhou-based company makes the G1 useful for general-purpose tasks at home. Currently, only the likes of Figure and Tesla can fill that gap with their humanoids.